Continuous-flow press for removing moisture from material such as bark, bagasse, peat moss, and the like



Oct. 28, 1952 H, s MESSlNG 2,615,387

CONTINUOUS-FLOW PRESS FOR REMOVING MOISTURE FROM MATERIAL SUCH AS BARK,BAGASSE, FEAT MOSS, AND THE LIKE Filed Feb. 3, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet l zllfifi F 9 O 0 (0 0 O I o 0 2 0 o s: Q s

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d O 94 I (q INVENTOR. C); HJALMAR S. MESSING LI BY AT T6 RN LY INVENTOR.HJALMAR- 5 MESSING OCL 28, 1952 H MESS|NG 2,615,387

S. CONTINUOUS-FLOW PRESS FOR REMOVING MOISTURE FROM MATERIAL SUCH ASBARK, BAGASSE, PEAT MOSS, AND THE LIKE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 3,1949 ooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooINVENTOR. HJALMAR s. MESSlNG AT TO RN EY- Patented Oct. 28,1952

.ibNriNUoUs-fiow PRESS FOR REMOVING ,MOISYTUBE FROM MATERIAL SUCH AS.,BARK, acAssarE r oss, AND THE 7 iLIKE,

Hjalmar Si Messing, NewYoi-k, N. Y., assignor to American *DefibratorjInc., New York','N. Y., a

corporation of New York application February s, 1949, Serial No. 74.293W L 3 Claims. (01. 100-125) V justable externally of the compressionchamber,

ciently reduce the water content of material of the character indicatedwhich it is desired to I employ for fuel purposes, as well as many othertypes of material whose effective utilization depends upon' reduction ofwater content, such as wood chips and wood shavings employed as startingmaterials in the fabrication of fiberboard, wallboard andthe like. 'f

Another object of the invention is the provision of a dewatering presswhichis' constructed and arranged in such amanner that the removal ofwater thereby will be accomplished in a smooth and continuous operation,the material of high I water content being fed "continuously to thepress atone end and the material of reduced water other end.

A further object of the invention is theprovicontent being'dischargedcontinuously at the sion of a dewatering press of the characterde--scribed having a receivingchamber, .a compression chamber and anintermediate chamber provided with slots or apertures allowing'drainageof water from the material being treated without interfering with thecontinuous, operation of the press.

An additional object of the invention is the provision of a dewateringpre'ss having a tapered screw with diminishing pitch arranged tocompress the material being treated withina-compression chamber havingforwardly convergent walls with longitudinal grooves formed'therein inorder to achieve high compression and efficient dewatering, the walls ofthe compression-chamher being further provided with clog-free aperturesfor draining the water removed fromthe material being treated. t

Another feature ofthe invention resides in'a novel arrangement forminimizing wear andextendingthe life of the press by providingadjustable and replaceable inserts extending along the longitudinalgrooves of the compression chamber, each insert being mounted-between anadjacent pair of segments forming the body'of the compression chamberand the inserts being adconstruction of the compression chamber or as bymeans of bolts intersecurin the chamber segments.

The foregoing objects as well as additionalob jects and advantages ofthe inventionwilljfbe readily apparent in the course of theiollowingdetailed description taken in connection-with the accompanying drawingswhich illustratea preferred embodiment of the invention, and

wherein: f

= Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a dewatering press embodying the featuresof the invention;

' Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 22 of 1; Fig. 3 is a verticalsection taken on line 3-'- -"3 of Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail viewillustratingthe throat and the intermediate chamber or base ring; v

Fig. 5 is a sectional viewtakenon line 5 -5 of Fig.4; I

throat Fig. 6 is a sectional View taken on line 5 -6 of Fig. 4

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary detail view taken on line 1-5-1 of Fig. 6showing the arrangement of the adjustable groove inserts between;adjacent throats'egments; Fig.8 is a fragmentary detail view taken-on'line'8-8 of Fig. 6 illustrating the formation of the clog-freeaperturesinthe throat segments;

and

Fig. 9 as sectional view taken on line'il-Qfof Fig. 4 illustrating theconstruction of an adju s table discharge device which may be incorporated in the dewatering press.

Referring now to the drawings in reater dev tail, a uniform flow ofmaterial through thepress is assured in any suitable manner, asibyme'ansof a twin screw feed ll], lli jarranged in hopper l I and drivenby meansof motor l2 through; belt 13 and gears l4. The material being fed to thefper ll. Water removed from'the'materialin hoppress undergoespreliminary compression 'in 'hopper HQ is drained through ai-pluralityofsmall apertures I5 inthe bottom'wallfl of said hopper, asshown'in Fig.2, and received in an inclined trough I communicating with the drainagesystemofthepress' I I 'ing purposes. A. helical compression elemer torscrew '20 extends forwardly -within receiving The material passes fromhopper I I into of the press.

rotatably mounted in a fixed bearin member or ports or slots 28.

zprotates.

Since most curs in compression chamber or throat member 26' h thegreatest amount of wear results therein, Darchamber l8 and within theremaining portion Shaft portion a of screw 20 is housing 2| as by meansof roller bearings 22 and thrust bearing23. Suitablmoil retainers 241are also provided atjeither end of bearing member 2| and a waterthrow-oil ring 25 is mounted on shaft the press through slots 28 of basering 21 provision is also made in' throat member 26 for drainage in theform of a plurality of rows of clogfree apertures 32 formed in eachthroat segment .29.:- .Drainage apertures 32;are preferably formedJjiwit'h ammermost pdrtioii32a of relatively small 20a between saidbearing member and the adja- "cent end of receiving chamber l8 topreventthe possibility of any water entering theflbear-ing member. Screw20 is drivenat the desired" of revolution from an external power source(not shown) preventing any of the material being treated diameteropening into an outermost countersunk ;portion 32b of relatively largediameter, as best shown in Fig. 8,in order to provide efiicient drainageand; prevent clogging while simultaneously "from passing through saidapertures. For exam- The rotation of screw 20 will carry the materialbeing dewatered into theanterior portionof the press comprising thecompression chamber or .ple with a throat member of 1 wall thickness'awdrainage raperturehaving an innermost portion of A "diameter and 1%"depth and an outermost countersunk portion of diameter has throat member26 and theJ-intermediate cham her or throat. base ring 21, most of thecompresproven satisfactory. The depth of innermost por- "tion' 32a ispreferably slightly less than the dision of the material occurring inthe throat mem ber 26 and the primary function of the intermediatechamber or base ring 21 being to afford drainage of the bulk of thewater expressed from the material in said throat member. Accord-..ingly, in the preferred embodiment of the invenl. tion, both throatmember 26 and throat base ring- 21 are formed as frusto-conical sectionhaving forwardly-convergent inner walls so that the pre- 5 ponderantflow of water expressed from the ma- --terial in said throat member willbe rearwardly to the throatbase ring 21. l I

As clearly shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, throat base ring 21 is providedwith a plurality of drainage Inorder to provide foreficient discharge ofwater and simultaneously prevent'clogging, slots 28 are preferablyformed of uniform width inwardly for a relatively short distance asshown at 28a and then of gradually increasing width outwardly as shownat 2822 in Figs.

In order to assure efficient compression and maximum dewatering of thematerial being treated the anterior end of screw 20, i. e. the

portion of said screw fitting within the throat base ring 21 and throatmember 26, is formed with diminishing diameter and diminishing pitch soas to fit snugly within the respective portions of the press, as clearlyshown in Fig. 3. I Base ring 21 and throat member 26 areprovided withpreferably angular spaced longitudinal grooves or recesses Z'Iaand 26cdefining retaining surfaces 21b and 26b against which the material beingtreated can be crushed and compacted for maximum compression and removalof water as screw of the compression of materialocticularly alongthe.,retaining surfaces 26b of grooves 26a. The life of throat member 26may .be greatly extended by formingsaid throat memberflfroma pluralityof segments. 29 interconnectable as by means of bolts 30, asshown inFigs. 6, and 7. Specialhardened inserts or facings. may beinterposedbetween. adjacent .seg-

ments 29 to serveas the retaining surfaces 26b.

Said inserts 26bv may. be adjusted periodically with continued use tocompensate for attendant. wear as by means of elongated mounting-holes3| which receive the segment mounting bolts vi0.

,When no longer adjustable, worn inserts maybe I replaced by freshinserts by dismantling throat segments without requiring acompletely'new throat member 26. V

While the bulk of the water expressed from the ,material in throatmember 26.; drains;;fr0n1; ,75

- and not ina limiting sense."

ameter thereof.

Throat member 26 is surrounded by a drainage jacket 33 communicatingwith a main drainage trough. 34 having its bottom inclined downwardlytoward a centrally disposed outlet pipe'35 to assure continuousautomatic drainage. Inclined trough I! also communicates with maintrough 34, as shown in Fig. 2. I

An adjustable pressure-relieving discharge'device or rattrapis'preferably provided for the dewatering press. vThefdischarge devicecomprises a pair of side plates, 36, a bottom plate 31,

. and a hinge plate 38 swingable mounted between said side plates at.The volume of the-discharge device and the downward pressureiof hingeplate '38 may be varied to control the; dischargerate sion chamber 26and by exerting pressure on the material will express residualwaterjtherefrom through perforations 40. Drainage jacket 33, extendsinto the region of discharge device 35.

Since certain modifications may be madein lthe dewatering press of thepresentinvention without departing from the scope thereof, it isintended that all matter contained in the foregoing specification and'shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted merely as illustrativeWhat is claimed is:

1. A continuous-flow dewatering press comprising a receiving chamber;feeding means therefor; a compression chamber-having walls convergingtoward. the outlet end thereof, an intermediate chamber having wallsconverging forwardly toward-said compression chamber and communicatingtherewith and. a rotatable helical compression element extending withinsaid chambers, said compression-chamber having a plurality of drainageapertures for removal of water therefrom, -said intermediate chamberhaving aplurality of drainage'slots' whereby water expressed frommaterial. Withinsaidcompression ,chamber will .fiow continuously'towardsaid intermediate chamber and the drainageslots thereof, saidcompression chamber having a {plurality s'of spaced longitudinalgroovesdefining retaining surfaces for compressing, compacting and dewateringmaterial urged thereagains't by said rotatable compression element, saidcompression chamber being formed from a plurality of chamber segments,wear-resistant inserts adjustably engageable between adjacent chambersegments and coextensive with each of said longitudinal grooves, and adischarge chamber communicat- 2. In combination with a continuous-flowde- I and said supporting bracket, whereby to vary the volume and flowof material through said discharge chamber and remove residual moisturetherefrom.

3. In combination with a continuous-flow de watering press having acompression chamber, a discharge chamber communicating with saidcompression chamber, the discharge chamber comprising a pair ofperforated side plates, a perforated bottom plate, a perforated hingeplate swingably mounted between the side plates and constituting the topmember of the discharge chamber, said hinge plate being pivoted at itsrear edge and having a spring seat on its upper face, a bracket locatedabove the discharge chamber, a handle element threadable through saidbracket, a head on the lower end of said handle between the bracket andspring seat, a coil spring having oneend operative against the head andits other end supported on the spring seat, and a return spring locatedrearwardly of the compression spring and having one end attached to theupper portion of the hinge plate v and its other end attached to thebracket,

HJALMAR S. MESSING.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 271,398 Baker Jan. 30, 1883641,266 Bussells Jan. 16, 1900 783,602 Wheelwright Feb. 28, 1905 787,483Tompkins Apr. 18, 1905 1,005,472 Renneburg Oct. 10, 1911 1,049,834Fiddyment Jan. '7, 1913 1,127,910 Molins et al. Feb. 9, 1915 1,221,054Hyatt Apr. 3,191? 1,550,045 Power Aug. 18, 1925 1,752,054 Anderson Mar.25, 1930 1,835,789 Lang Dec. 8, 1931 1,851,191 Lang Mar. 29, 19321,889,543 Coors Nov. 29,, 1932 2,235,819 Upton Nov.- 30, 1943 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 394,450 France Mar. 2, 1909 707,953 FranceApr. 20, 1931 35,371 Germany Apr. 30, 1886

